Nightmares Run In The Genes
by Ed Girl
Summary: UPDATED- Chapter 3- R&R!!Spike returns from the brink of death once again. No longer hoping to die he searches to find meaning in a life he doesn't want. A meaning that may be in a boy that resembles Spike in appearence and attitude.... PLEASE R&R!!!!
1. Default Chapter

_DISCLAIMER--I don't own cowboy bebop  
  
A/N-Sorry about the grammar- not good with quotations and spacing when ppl talk  
But despite the many mistakes {'I'm sure I have} I hope you all enjoy the story_  
  
  
**_Prologue_**  
  
In the darkness of the night, a small boy with spiky green hair and large blue eyes holds a dying body of a woman. The wind howls outside their home, as the rain is heard beating furiously on the windows outside- tears of the heavens for the blood tainting the ground below.   
  
"I swear mother I'll find the men who did this to you, I'll kill them," says the child with tears welling up into his eyes as his small arms hug her close. The sound of her breaths become weaker and weaker with every second that creeps by.  
  
She slowly turns her head, her own tears staining her face. "No, find Spike! He'll help you, you can't do this alone." One last gasp, one last sound of life before utter silence fills the small child's ears. The winds outside slowly die down and as they do so they seem to take the woman's soul with them. The storm ends and the rain stops like the ending of an act yet to let the curtain fall. The storm, now over, leaves the after taste of rage, anger, sadness, blood and death lingering in the air with heavy tears, as if the angels watching above have yet to dry their eyes. It appears the winds and rain are satisfied with the sacrifice that has just taken place and yet the boy isn't satisfied with anything. No, it is decided by fate then, that he will never be satisfied until the men who had destroyed his mother and his life forever were dead by his hand. And even then, vengeance completed, their blood on the ground at his feet might not even be enough to fill the void made in his innocent heart.   
  
"Mother," he whispers too late, only to have his silent screams of anguish swallowed up by the creaks of the house as the shadows engulf them both- the body of a woman and a form of a shivering child filled with rage beyond his years.  
  
  
  
**Nightmares run in the genes**  
  
  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"Spike," a voice. Soft, a mummer of reality. It was _her. _  
  
Who?  
  
"Spike." There it was again, the soft sound of Julia's voice calling me from somewhere, but where? I couldn't see a thing. Everywhere I turned there was only darkness, complete blackness. I couldn't tell if I was up or down, left or right. Was I moving? Was I standing still? Was I even standing? Where was I? A cold shiver went down my spine as the next question fell into my mind as an after thought of indifference- Was this hell? No, that was a stupid idea. This wasn't anywhere at all. It was more like nowhere.  
  
"Spike." Julia? Where was she?   
  
"Julia where are you?"   
  
"I'm here Spike, follow my voice," she said as if I knew where the hell her voice was coming from. Follow her voice? What did that mean to a man that couldn't tell up from down? I couldn't see anything but I tried to anyway- it was for Julia, my dream and now this nightmare was for her- it had been and was now. I turned my body as best as I could and started to move my arms in a swimming motion. It occurred to me out of the blue that if Jet were here he'd be laughing his ass off watching my attempt to "swim" to Julia who, by the way, I had no idea where she was. A fish who had no idea where to go or even how to swim, that was the best way to describe the way I felt.  
  
"I bet Jet would be, Spike." Vicious? Was that him? I wasn't sure who it was but I sure as hell knew one thing - this whole dark thing was pissing me off. So was the fact that now I didn't even have to voice anything for me to be heard. Vicious was reading my goddamned thoughts! But if Vicious was here, was here hell? I figured when you were dead you saw gates or fire or _something_. Was I even dead?  
  
"Not yet Spike but soon," Julia said.   
  
All I wanted was to see her. _Damn darkness_, I mumbled with frustration.   
  
Then I saw it - a picture started to form in the distance with a bright brilliance. A light in the darkness that consumed me. A glow. A form. A woman! Julia! As I moved towards her, I realized how light my body began to feel. I didn't even have to move, it was as if a pair of invisible hands were pushing me from behind. It felt so good to just float without trying, without running, or moving, just being. I felt so free, felt so distant from my past as if it had never happened and had never chained me down. Around Julia the background became lighter, the glowing of her form spreading out around my darkened world like gentle fingers painting my darkness white until I was in the brilliance of her- Julia.   
  
Then there she was standing on a gray marble staircase forming beneath her feet. The wind from somewhere unknown was catching her beautiful blond hair. It flowed like liquid gold around her face. I still couldn't make out all the details, but I knew it was Julia even if her face was blurry and distorted by the dreamy fog that hung around the air.  
  
Then there was a rush of color. I couldn't believe my eyes. The white around me became alive with vibrancy. I looked down and below me was the earth, shimmering as if water, or as if it was a reflection that filled the empty space above me. It was like I was standing on a mirror of the world around me and yet I was neither in the reflection no more than the earth was above my head. All around me were cherry trees, lush with pink leaves that blew soft petals around the air with a playful tug and blow here and there. The trees outlined the staircase, they were everywhere- as far as the eye could see. Far back in the distance were mountains and hills cascading the land just beyond forever. Not a sound was heard, not even my breathing that was filled with awe broke the silence that was neither stifled or frightening.   
  
Then another figure appeared next to Julia.  
  
I was almost there. The figure next to Julia materialized and became Vicious. But he wasn't the bloodthirsty man who wouldn't rest until he had slain me. The man I locked eyes with was my best friend. The same guy I used to play pool with in the clubs, got drunk with, went after chicks with "before Julia," and just plain caused chaos with. I had forgotten all the fun I had had with him by my side. He looked different when he was smiling with black eyes filled with mature clarity instead of full warped vengeance. The transformation in his face was so drastic as I stared into what had been, what was gone forever save for this moment where time didn't seem to matter. His "white" hair turned to a light shade of blond, and the wrinkles under his eyes were almost completely gone. He smiled and held out his hand. To me?  
  
I reached out my hand, inches from his. Then I stopped.  
  
What the hell was going on here! I had just killed the guy. But before I could utter a single word I realized something- I was going backwards! Julia and Vicious were becoming blurry again. What the hell was going on, just a few seconds ago I was an inch away from them. "Ah, it hurts," I said holding my stomach as pain shot through it. The pain came quick and harsh. It was so intense; it felt like nothing I had ever felt before and I had known what "real" pain was like. I closed my eyes for a few moments, the pain becoming more intense, more fierce as I felt myself drift farther away from Julia, from Vicious. When I opened my eyes the colors around me had faded like water color paintings I once saw on Mars. Julia and Vicious were gone along with the vibrance of my world, no their world not mine.   
  
What was I doing? This was no time to think about damn watercolor paintings or whose world I was in! I had to figure this out. I had to figure out what the hell was going on!  
  
For the moment everything had stopped. I was back-suspended in the darkness that consumed me with hunger once again. At that moment I heard Julia again, "Spike your going back."   
  
"Going back?!" I yelled. No, this wasn't happening, not after all I went through. "No," I yelled loudly as I tried to fight the current that was against me, tugging me away once again from the only one that mattered. It seemed that Julia's words had triggered those same hands that had pushed me to her. Only this time, instead of a gentle push it was a hard pull downward into nothing, then the speed began to pick up. It was too strong to stop, too strong to struggle. I tried so hard to make it stop, tried so hard to fight for my heart, my dream, my death. I didn't want to be alive again. I didn't care if hell was what Vicious, Julia, and I had to live in. It was better then no Julia at all. What was I going to do? What _could _I do?   
  
_Nothing. _The word resounded in my head like an echo.  
  
I closed my eyes as the in pain in my stomach came back ten times more intense than before. My body became heavy as I was sucked down a drain that chipped ice away from my body and filled it with needles of relentless pain. Then with a loud thump I was thrown back. Back to reality, back to living in the past, back to the same old bullshit. Only this time I figured it out. By this time all answers and questions didn't matter. I only knew one thing, one God damned thing- I wasn't going anywhere. No matter how many times I tried I wasn't going to die.  
  
_God dammit. _  
  
I wondered if Vicious was laughing at me right now. _Damn you Vicious, you could have aimed better, how about my heart next time huh?_  
  
I opened my eyes. Everything seemed to spin- lights, colors, sounds and all. Slowly the room came into focus. I was lying down in a bed with bandages everywhere. An oxygen mask lay on my mouth as the machine pushed my chest up and down. I couldn't breath! I would take a breath but the machine took it back. I moved my hand from my side, tore off the bandage holding the mask on and ripped it off.  
  
"Oh my, you're awake. I'm so sorry about the mask I'll go get the doctor," said a young girl dressed in white scrubs and lab coat that stood by my bed. She ran out of the room before I could say a thing. I laughed a little, thinking about the whole damn situation. I bet the doc was even gonna ask me how I felt.  
  
"Ah, so you're better," a man said standing in the doorway. For a moment I thought he was Jet. But when he came closer I saw the differences. True he was balding, had a beard, but his eyes were a deep intense brown and his nose was alot thinner than my late partner. I laughed; this guy was a hell of a lot older then Jet as well. He had gray streaks everywhere. But I decided that maybe I had better not to tell Jet that. He had enough ego. But didn't we all?  
  
The doctor sat on the end of the bed and eyed me closely. "What?" I managed to choke out, still out of breath.   
  
"Spike, you're the strangest case I've ever had," he said as he shifted positions. Feet shuffled as he moved back and forth from one foot to the other trying to stand comfortably. "You see when you were attacked, or whatever happened, it seems that the knife cut through all of your organs in the abdominal cavity, plus you had a heart attack on the table while we were operating on you. We almost lost you twice but you bounced back." His face filled with seriousness I had seen so many times before. "Let me put this better, by all means you should be dead!"  
  
I looked at him stonily. So what, was I supposed to applaud him for bringing me back? It was his fault I was here looking at him now. I was weary and yet I hated this man before me. how dare he disrupt my death? The only thing I wanted, had needed. But it wasn't really his fault was it? It was my own damned luck.  
  
"Maybe this hasn't all sunken in yet," he said. But no he didn't stop to see if he was right, he just kept on going. "It can be a horrific experience, you must have been through something horrible." Horrible? That was putting it mildly. This guy had no idea. I wondered if I should I tell him? "But anyway"- here it comes- "How do you feel?"- and all with a lovely smile as if everything beforehand was never said at all. I hated doctors.  
  
How do I feel, hell let's see, the love of my life was taken from me, my best friend just tried to kill me, all my subordinates turned against me, and I live in a constant struggle with the past. Now how to sum all that up for you?  
  
"Crappy. I feel really crappy." I said rubbing my temples. Boy did I have a headache. Then I heard a familiar sound.  
  
"Where is he? Damnit someone tell me!" Well lets see that has to be Faye now the next voice is going to be Jet's.  
  
"Faye stop yelling this is a hospital! People are trying to sleep!" Score one for the green afro man. Now last but not least Edward. I was waiting for her to jump on me yelling "Lunkhead!" or "Spike person!".  
  
"Arf, Arf." Dear God no they brought the dog! Oh my God Ein, please don't jump. "OWWWW! Damnit Ein that hurt," I said pushing the two-ton dog off my stomach.  
  
"He's just glad to see you," said Faye walking over to the bed. Were those tears glistening in those cat jaded eyes? Faye crying over me, you've got to be kidding me.   
  
"Down Ein," said Jet walking in behind the purple haired harlot.   
  
"Why did you do it?" I demanded angrily locking eyes with intense blue. My fight, my past, my _death! _Not his, not Faye's, Mine! Why, Jet? Why the fuck did you let me live?  
  
"Do what? Spike, what are talking about," asked Jet.  
  
God I hated when people played dumb! "Don't play so stupid, someone had to bring me here!" I yelled as if the raspy noises my voice made was a sort of yelling.   
  
"So that's why you're so angry. I figured you would be, you wanted to die and now that you're alive you're pissed. Well, dammit, Spike, Faye and I had nothing to do with this, nothing at all. We heard that you got here from a call my friend gave me. He said 'Spike's in the OR, you might want to check it out,' so we did." Jet crossed his arms.  
  
I lay back on the bed. "So then who brought me?" Energy was lost, weariness was seething in. Who would bring me here? Jet wasn't lying, I could tell and I really had pissed him off by suggesting it too. Then something hit me where was the kid? I was expecting to be bombarded by Ed.  
  
Jet seemed to have read my mind. "She's gone, Spike, her dad was killed about a month ago." Jet turned away, but continued. "He was killed by a falling rock. She has no place to go so she's gonna stay with us for now, " he said sadly. The feeling fit him well, he had become the next best thing to father in Ed's life hadn't he?  
  
Then something hit me. "Uh Jet how long have I been in the hospital?"   
  
Jet turned to face Faye then turned back to me scratching his head. "Why you've been hear three months!"  
  
"Three months!" That couldn't be! It just couldn't be! Shock, utter shock... "How is that possible Jet?" I asked the breath leaking out of my lungs.   
  
"Let me explain," said Faye.  
  
"Uh no that's ok, Faye, I want to hear it from Jet," I said.   
  
"Ok Spike forget I'm even here," Faye said. I head the familiar sarcastic tone to her voice.  
  
"Well," continued Jet, "You got here three months ago, but they had to do a lot of operations on you, they wouldn't let us see you until you awoke from the coma."  
  
"What do you mean 'until I awoke from the coma?" I asked, those word bothering me. My stomach was starting to hurt badly again too but I hid it as best as I could. No, not one more second was I staying in this hell hole that brought people back from their rightful deaths! Best way to get the hell out was to be better, acting like it even if I wasn't.   
  
"Spike they gave you some meds that put you asleep for some time I guess, I don't know, I'm no doctor." Faye laughed. "In a way Spike you were frozen like me only without the cold part. Ha, I guess you could say you got to be sleeping beauty for three months." Yeah sleeping beauty that's me all right. Well, why couldn't I _stay _sleeping. I decided to be nice, after all Jet could have not come and filled me in that I had been dead for three months.   
  
"Uh thanks for coming, by the way."  
  
Then came in the cute little nurse with the high-pitched voice that reminded me of a mouse. "Mr. Speigal now that you're better we can give you this." She handed me a slip of paper. A bill?! Forty five million woolongs!   
  
"You have to be kidding me! How am I going to pay for this?" I asked in a breathless tone. This was great I had just come back to life and I already owed more then I was worth dead. Why in the hell wasn't I dead for crissakes! "How am I going to pay this off?" I fell backward on the bed that I hadn't even noticed I had sprung from. This was great now what? I needed to find a bounty. But what bounty was gonna pay for all this? I closed my eyes and tried to think.  
  
_Hey, Vicious are you laughing at me you bastard?_ I thought of that image I had seen of Julia and Vicious standing happily. Did I mention they were standing happily _dead _without me? What really did happen to them and Shin and Lin? I wondered then. Vicious and Julia had looked too alive to be dead, hadn't they? I tried to picture their faces but nothing came to mind. I guess it just wasn't my turn to know. Oh, Julia I hope you're waiting for me at the cemetery. We'll be buried there but we'll be walking among our fellow dead. I laughed half heartily. Then Jet spoke breaking away my morbid thoughts.  
  
"Well Spike you can go home today the doctor said. Are you gonna come back to the ship?" Jet handed me some cloths. But Faye was still holding my pants.   
  
"First things first, just how am I going to pay off this hospital bill?" I asked putting on my shirt, the IV sticking on my wrist until I pulled it out with force that made me grimace. Then I glanced at Faye. "Uh, Faye, I kinda need my pants to get dressed, can you give then to me?" She threw my pants at me and walked out, slamming the door. "What's with her?" I asked putting my pants on, standing wobbly fully clothed.  
  
"She's been acting weird ever since that day, you know when you left to go after Julia. I really don't know what to do about her, so I figure I'll leave her alone. She's bound to come out of it sometime." Jet said. Then he was out the door. He popped his head back in and said "As for the money we'll work on it later you have some time to pay it off." He then disappeared again.  
  
_Some time? _At the rate I was going I was more likely immortal! Some time meant eternity at that moment.   
  
I sighed; this was going to be fun I thought sarcastically. But what else could I do but to move along with the way things were going? The only option was to go back to the ship now so I was going back to the goddamned shit just about as happy as a mad dog. Man, of all things to happen then on top of the shitload of happenings I got a debt to tie it off nicely. This whole coming back to the world was a pain in my ass and it just kept getting better and better. Then I thought of something- it was really funny by now you would really think I would have of got it through my head that I wasn't going die.  
  
I hit my fist against the wall. " Damnit!" Jet was right I had to keep going. I guess I was just one of those lucky ones that got to be tormented by their past. I loved when people told you to bury and forget. All it ever did was come back and haunt you. I couldn't wait to see what new surprise's awaited me in the life that wouldn't fucking end. One thing was for sure I was done with that bullshit Syndicate. No matter what happened now. I was through. Julia was dead, I really had no reason to live but if I wasn't going to die I might as well walk away.  
  
I knew what I needed. I needed to get drunk. That'd be the first thing. It'd take some of the edge of reality off for a while anyway.  
  
I walked down the hall. It was so poorly lit, and every room seemed to be dark inside. One room was lit and inside was on old man sitting on a chair. He had scars on he face, arms and hands. He looked like he'd had a hard life. I heard the doctor tell him about the operation and how unsuccessful it was. Then he said something like he had no family and he'd leave tomorrow morning. I walked on by. Was that gonna be me in the future? But no, I couldn't die.  
  
"Come on Spike." Jet's voice woke me up from my train of thoughts. I met up with him and Faye who seemed to be better now except that there were tears in her eyes. They stood in front of the glass doors that lead to the outside world I hadn't wanted ever to see again. I looked down at a large woman with huge glasses at the front desk just to the left of freedom, or maybe those glass doors were another form of hell. She handed me a form to sign. A certain part caught my eye. The part about the hospital had nothing to do with any chance that there might be some complications with my operation.  
  
So if I die they can't get blamed how funny was that. They needed to be blamed for not letting me die! But on the bright side I guessed that meant something could happen to me. I wished it would but I knew it wasn't going to.  
  
"Here," I said leaving the paper on the desk as I walked out of the sliding doors into the sunshine. I sighed. " Oh, well here goes nothing." I walked away from the hospital; I followed Jet and Faye to the Taxi waiting with a sour assed driver and sighed heavily. Faye and Jet got in but before I did I looked over my shoulder at the hospital looming in the distance. So here ended the book of my life. That sounded so morbid but it was so damn true. Maybe I won't even be a bounty hunter in my next life. As far as I was concerned I did die in that hospital. Truthfully, what had died in that hospital was my very soul. Or maybe the part that died there wasn't dead, only waiting to be found by another poor soul with a past too damn complicated for the weak.   
  
I got into the taxi and slammed the door shut. I sat on the soft seats that smelled of vomit and maybe garbage. Jet got a cigarette out and lit it. Just looking at it made my mouth drool. "Jet let me have one." I asked, though there was, I admit, a tone of begging in my voice. Jet handed me one. Just the feel of it between my fingers felt good. Like a forgotten helping hand that hadn't been there for a while.  
  
"Here," Jet said handing me his lighter. I lit it and took a puff.  
  
"Boy this is just what I needed," I said. Then I realized that Faye had been starring at me since I had gotten into the taxi.   
"Faye what are you looking at?" I said getting annoyed.   
  
"Spike you need a hair cut." She gave me a funny look. "And you need a shower, you smell bad." She said holding her nose.  
  
"Well, Faye," I said sarcastically, "I've been laying in a bed for three months!" I felt the hair on my chin. "Its not like I was conscious enough to get a shave." Then we began to argue about how insensitive I was, and how I was still a jerk. How I didn't care then and how I didn't care about anything now.   
  
."Oh, boy." Jet said, putting his head in his hands.  
  
The taxi drove off, into the late afternoon shadows, the shouting of the cowboy and the gambler heard for miles around.   
  
  
  
A/N- There was no time to read this over. So once again forgive the mistakes. 


	2. The Winds of the Past Always Blow Cold

Disclaimer - I do not own Cowboy bebop  
  
All questions from last chapter will be answered here hopefully. Sorry it took so long! Once again I apologize about the grammar, commas and such but I have had someone beta the story for me. And thank you all for my reviews I really appreciate them allot (.  
  
Nightmares run in the genes Ch 2 Winds of the past always blow cold  
  
The destination, The place toward which my life is tending, Is the journey itself and not the final stopping place. -Richard Bode  
  
  
  
Back on the ship again, everything seemed the same. Though it was quiet, too quiet. I looked around at everything in the ship but I just couldn't keep my mind on anything for very long. So many thoughts ran through my head. My head made me so dizzy. I needed to sleep or pass out. Plus to make it worse my side hurt like hell too. I held my side briefly thinking about the consequences of my decision not to say a damn word about it.  
  
But there was no way I was going back to the hospital. If I they would have known about my side I'd have probably spent another month there.  
  
To hell with that thought! Just thinking about the hospital made me think about all the money I owed. What was I gonna do about it all?  
  
Goddam reality, why me? I needed a drink, badly. At this point being sober was a bad thing, because it meant I had to think about everything.  
  
I took out another cigarette and lit it; it tasted so good. Then I flopped onto the couch and put my feet on the table.  
  
Yeah nothing had changed, same old bullshit. I always had this kind of bad luck. It was the story of my life.  
  
"Here Spike, the Doc gave this to me," Jet said throwing me a small brown bottle. Which distracted my thoughts for a moment.  
  
"What's this for?" I asked reading the label. Petholon, huh? Sounded like something I could fuel the swordfish with.  
  
"Its for you. Its pain meds, if you need them take two, but only two a day, or you'll run out and have to pay for more," Jet said heading into the other room.  
  
Pay for more. Those words haunted me. I would be dead and the hospital would still be trying to get money outa my dead rotting body, geeze even the hospital was cut throat. I bet if they knew I didn't have they money to pay them they wouldn't have done such a good job.  
  
That made me laugh. Then I looked at the bottle in my palm again.  
  
Pain meds huh? Yeah whatever. I had never used them in my whole life. They didn't take away the pain they covered it up and did a shitty job of even that.  
  
I threw them against the wall.  
  
The bottle didn't even open. "Damn". So much for the dramatic breaking of the bottle and flood of yellow stripped pills everywhere. I sighed, " Oh well." I yawned. I was so tired.  
  
Go figure that one out. I had been asleep for three months and I was still tired. But just as I was falling asleep Faye's words echoed in my ear, "You smell Spike, you should take a shower". I subconsciously smelled me shirt, which now smelled of a hospital with all the trimmings. I didn't need a shave that badly. Faye was always getting on my case. I was sick of her comments.  
  
Oh hell a shower would probably feel good anyway.  
  
I got up off the couch and walked down the hall, my gaze darting in the rooms on opposite side of me. Where was Ed anyway? She was probably doing something with a computer, what- not even I was going to ask. But I was sure I'd get tackled before this night is over with.  
  
I walked over to the closet and grabbed a towel. I knocked on the bathroom door and went in. I turned on the light, and looked at the room that now surrounded me. But I really wasn't paying attention to any of it. I was too caught up with my thoughts and those thoughts were just too much for my brain right now. I couldn't concentrate on anything else. The distraction I had from the pills had wore off since I had walked down the hall. My head was at it again.  
  
I sighed.  
  
Maybe some hot water and steam would cloud it a bit, I thought while turning on the faucets.  
  
I stripped down, and left my cloths in a pile by the door, but then I set them up on the edge of the sink. I could wear them again after all they were still clean I mean I was only in them for what a couple of hours if that.  
  
I got in the tub. The water was just starting to warm up. It felt good. I looked down at my stomach. A long pinkish- tan line was all I had to prove that everything I had done up to this point hadn't really been some lie or someone's twisted fantasy.  
  
I ran my fingers over the line; it hurt but not as much as the next thing that came into my mind.  
  
I looked at the shower water, and watched it fall. The water from the shower reminded me of rain as it fell on my head. I stared up at it loosing myself completely, as it ran over my body and dripped into the bottom of the tub.  
  
_It was raining that day too, wasn't it? Julia do you remember it rained the day we met in the cemetery. You asked me to leave with you. You said we could leave it all behind.  
  
But the past wasn't satisfied was it? Little did we know what the future would hold next.  
  
I held your body as the rain fell, hard and cold. Like my tears, the ones my heart cried. The mist and my sadness engulfed me completely. The sun went black that fateful day.  
  
You weren't the one who died that day I was.  
  
I watched the life from your body pour out and spill onto the roof, and the rain washed it away like it was nothing.  
  
What spilled out from you was all the love and emotions I ever had. Everthing washed down the gutter. - My soul with it.  
  
You spoke saying those soft words to me, "Its all a dream".  
  
Your beautiful eyes closed for the last time. You left me, and the whole world disintegrated at my fingertips.  
_  
"Spike are you done yet? I can't cook when you're using all the hot water".  
  
Huh? I snapped back into reality.  
  
What was Jet yelling about?  
  
Why should I get out? I just got in here. But then I shivered. Goosebumps were on my skin, and my hair was drenched. I realized something then, the water was running cold. I had been in here for a while.  
  
I put my hand to my head feeling the ache forming at my temples. What hell was going on here? I didn't know but I continued my shower my anyway, in freezing cold water.  
  
I got out the shower, threw back on my clothes, shaved what little that needed it just so Faye would shut up about it.  
  
I walked out of the bathroom. I felt so empty and used. Like a cigarette after it had been smoked completely out, leaving only the shell.  
  
Maybe I would take a pill. I hurt but I wanted to sleep. Maybe they pills would knock me out. Anything was better then being awake right now. My life was a mess, I was in dept yet again, and the memories that scarred me hurt so badly.  
  
I lay on the couch and closed my eyes. Sleep was gonna come for me soon.  
  
"Hiya Spike person!  
  
- Maybe not I guess they hit traffic on the way to get me-  
  
Ed jumped on me, nearly missing my stomach. Then she proceeded to give me hug that made be grit my teeth with pain.  
  
"Oh Ed missed you so very much. Ed was so sad that Spike person might not be coming back." She was squeezing the life out of me.  
  
"That's enough Ed," said Jet coming from the kitchen.  
  
Oh thank god Jet.  
  
"Spike's hurt right now. I know that you're happy to see him. I am too but you don't see me jumping on Spike do you?"  
  
The thought of that striked me as very funny, and I started to laugh, but stopped when Jet glared at me, and my side started to give out. I wiped away my tears of joy and pain still smiling and let him finish.  
  
"He has a bad cut on his stomach," said Jet leaving the room. Something was burning in the kitchen. I looked over. I hoped that wasn't dinner whatever it was.  
  
"You have a scar?" I turned around to see Ed, who looked at me with wide eyes.  
  
"Um yeah I do," I said not sure what to expect next.  
  
"Can Edward see; can Edward see?" She asked, jumping up and down.  
  
"Uh sure," I said and lifted up my shirt revealing the permanent line on my skin.  
  
"OOOOO" cried Ed. "Can I touch it?"  
  
Ok now that was too far. But I let her anyway just so maybe she would be satisfied and leave me to get some sleep.  
  
Then I remembered Jet said something about making some sort of stop in the taxi.  
  
"Uh Ed where are we going?"  
  
But she wasn't listening. She sat there on the floor mesmerized by my scar. I looked down. Why the hell was she so amazed with my scar? Was she seeing something I wasn't? I looked at it more closely, tilting my head to get a better picture. Nope, there was nothing there but a thick pinkish- tan line that wrapped around my stomach, just a scar. She was weird  
  
Then Faye came strolling in, yawning, " I am so tired. What are the two of you doing?"  
  
Faye hopped off the stairs and joined the two of us on the couch. I had put my shirt down and was looking desperately for a cigarette. I couldn't handle her right now, not without some backup. Where the hell were they? And where was my lighter?  
  
"She likes my scar that's all." I said not looking up. I needed a cigarette. Damn.  
  
"Here," said Faye handing me a pack and a lighter. My jaw dropped about five inches. Wow this wasn't Faye. I knew it was a trick, but I was so desperate. I snatched them both out of her hands. I lit it, and took a drag. Ah that was so much better.  
  
"Ok Faye what's the deal, just what do you want?" I said the cigarette hanging out of my mouth. "What do you mean?" She gave me a pouty face. " I don't want anything."  
  
I eyed her suspiciously. Yeah right. You always want something.  
  
But she looked like she was going to cry again. What the hell was wrong with her? I thought that after the fight in the taxi she was back to normal. She reminded me of a scared mouse. That was not Faye Valentine; the purple hair harlot I knew; who lied gambled, cheated, and was just plain annoying. Either she was acting really well or she honestly had lost her mind completely.  
  
I thought about what Jet had told me, but there was no way that I made her like that. That wasn't possible. Was it?  
  
I decided not to further into the matter, instead I decided to change the topic completely. I needed a break here. To many insane emotions aimed in my direction.  
  
My mind was gone already.  
  
"Where are we going?" Her wet eyes turned to meet me. At this point I just wanted an answer.  
  
"We're going to Saturn Spike. Jet said he has to pick something up there. He wasn't specific with me. Which doesn't surprise me at all." She laughed.  
  
Every now and again like now for instance I got a glimpse of the old Faye poking out of this confused exterior. Oh whatever she'd get over it or eventually say what was up. That was just her way of doing things.  
  
But Saturn, why the hell Saturn? It seemed so out of the way. We were still docked on Mars.  
  
I laughed. I hadn't been to Saturn since I was eighteen. That seemed so long ago to me. Wow. Just thinking about that brought memories out of the depths of my head that I hadn't thought about in ten years, maybe longer. I used to work on Saturn. That's where I got my first job repairing ships. Who was it? Sam. Sam. Sam Merket, yeah that's who hired me. He worked with his half brother Art Baker.  
  
Sam was the one who taught me the ropes there. I remember I. I don't think I saw much of Art; he was into other things besides the company now that I think about it. I wonder if those guys were part of the syndicate. Well whatever they were doing, it was certainly shady.  
  
But he was a nice guy.  
  
Then a picture came into my head. A girl with fair skin and long jet-black hair stood by a ship smiling at me, the grease apparent on her hands and white tank top.  
  
Where the hell did that come from? How did I know that? And who was the girl?  
  
Wait! Wait just a minute; I had a sort of brainstorm at that moment. Sh. Sh. something. It started with Sh I know it did. Sheena, Shurly, Shar, Sharon. Sharon! That was it. Sharon Baker. I remember now she got me the job with Sam. We met in a bar there and she asked me if I needed a job they were looking for people. I said I didn't know a damn thing about fixing ships, and she said she'd help me out.  
  
If I remember it right she's the one who really taught me about how to fix ships and salvage parts.  
  
It was cold that day. I walked into the bar on a late afternoon. I got rum and whisky to warm me up a bit. All the old timers were sitting there telling stories about the wars and how the speed of production was going in the factories  
  
It had been my third day there. Of all places I ran to, to start a living for myself. This place had lots of factories so I thought I was sure to get a job. But at that time things were good and there weren't any openings for the inexperienced.  
  
I was bummed of course but it was only the third day.  
  
_I sipped my drink letting my thoughts wander, and then she stepped in the bar. Everyone went silent. Then there was a loud 'hello Sharon' from almost the whole bar, she laughed and said 'hi guys'. Then they proceeded to ask about how things were going. Someone asked if she had filled the position yet, and she said no.  
  
She asked if they had seemed anyone looking for a job. And wouldn't you know it the bartender goes "Hey there's a new comer right here for ya," pointing at me. I froze as she walked over her hands in her pockets. She put her face close to mine and squinted at me. Her long jet-black hair was pulled into a ponytail and one piece fell off her forehead. She had such dangerous blue eyes. She was absolutely beautiful. She wore a gray coat without a hood and a pair of long jeans.  
  
"So you wanna a job, stranger? Fixing ships pays 15 woolongs an hour for the beginners but if you're good your wage goes up. Well what about it? We're looking for someone young."  
  
I looked at her and said plainly, "I don't know a damn thing about that stuff." But she just laughed at me. "Are you the secretary or something?" I asked. That was a mistake.  
  
She frowned. "Hey boys do I look like a secretary to you?" They all laughed. "Hell no boy I'm the chief mechanic of Baker Brothers Parts." She showed me her hands. The oil was caked thick; she wasn't lying.  
  
"Still don't believe me huh? Well here's our card look us up before you go anywhere else. And as for knowing nothing I can show the ropes. Alright boys don't get to drunk now I'm goin."  
  
She left, shutting the door behind her, my mouth dropped. She had a presence that stood over you even when she was gone. I looked down at the card and smiled. Yeah I would check the place out.  
_  
"Spike, Spike, Spike!"  
  
Huh? "What? What's up?"  
  
Faye stared at me strangely. I looked back at her "What is it Faye?"  
  
"Spike you just spaced out for the past fifteen minutes. I was getting worried. Are you ok?" She eyed me over.  
  
"I'm fine, Faye. I'm just really tired that's all I need some sleep. As stupid as it sounds it's the truth." I yawned and looked down to see Ed asleep on the floor.  
  
"When did she fall asleep?" Ed talked in her sleep. " I think just before you weirded out, Spike. Well I'm going to see if Jet needs help. I want to eat now not ten years from now."  
  
She got up and left the room, and left me to think and watch Ed carry a conversation while she slept.  
  
I lay back on the couch and closed my eyes. Finally I was going to get to sleep. I stretched out and let my body relax. I didn't realize how tired I really was. I fell asleep fast.  
  
The darkness surrounded me as I fell slowly. I heard a child cry in the distance and then a gunshot. I turned around to see a boy sitting on the grass holding a dying woman. The blood from her had soaked the boy's shirt. He screamed and cried.  
  
Then the image was gone.  
  
What the hell was that?  
  
Then the flash backs came. Julia stood in the cemetery speaking to me. I couldn't hear what she was saying. Then I was back on the roof, the rain soaking my head. Julia fell as the gunshot blotted out all sounds.  
  
_It's all a dream, Spike.  
  
Vicious then cut my stomach as I fell down the stairs.  
  
Anne lay on the couch dying. She reached her hand out to me.  
  
Shin lay in a pool of his own blood.  
  
Lin jumped in front on Vicious.  
  
Then I was falling out the window of the church. Seeing those visions again, of my life before my eyes.  
  
Julia.  
  
The flash backs moved faster, out of control. I tried to fun but they followed me.  
  
" Can't run Spike."  
  
Vicious.  
  
Then all the memories and flash backs swirled around my head, taunting me and filling me with pain. I fell on my knees. I didn't want to hear it anymore. I had had enough of this shit!  
  
The boy walked up to me. I looked in horror as I stared back into a face that resembled my own. Only those eyes were so deep and intense. Where had I seen those eyes before?  
  
"That's sad you can't remember any happy memories from your life," he said.  
  
With that he disappeared and I had an intense need to break down. Something I rarely did. The kid was right the past hurt me. It was pitiful I only remembered the sadness. No happiness with Julia.  
  
I screamed her name.  
  
" Julia!!"  
  
The voice I heard was none I knew.  
  
It spoke with bitter acidic tones scalding me with each word.  
  
"The winds of the past always blow bitter cold for you, Spike."  
  
I was flung into the void of pain and memories. My whole body was swallowed up in sadness and pain. Each memory cut and tore my soul to shreds, and this time there was no hand to pull me out.  
  
And no Julia._  
  
I woke with a start. My side and stomach hurt worse now. I ran to the bathroom and threw up everything I could. I put my hand to my face and tears filled my palm. BY: Ed Girl 


	3. Ashes

Location - Saturn market place  
  
  
  
It was a sunny day; the breeze was warm with moisture and the sky was bright blue. I had on a light jacket and, finding it too hot to wear, I threw it over my shoulder. The wind blew through my hair as I walked through the market place, dodging the daydreaming tourists trying to find something to occupy my mind with other than my thoughts.  
  
I hated being here. It was too crowded with too many damn tourists for my visit to be enjoyable.  
  
I sighed, still shaken from the dream the previous night as I played it over in my mind like a reoccurring pain in my ass. - Kind of like Faye-. It still haunted my every thought as I made my way passed the people and tried to let it go in the crowds of shadowed faces. .  
  
Why couldn't I let it go?  
  
Every now and again an image came to my mind from what I tried so hard to push away. Then my stomach would lurch a little and the image would pass, leaving me empty, cold, and sick. It was an unnerving disruption. I wanted to believe those images of last night had been nothing more then my imagination- my semi reality of my life, which gave me nightmares constantly anyway. And I wasn't the type of person who believed that dreams foretold anything, but there was that twisting feeling in my gut that told me to stay alert, watch for signs that nightmares and dreams meant something other than gruesome pictures of a semi crazy mind. The sad thing was, as much as I wanted to just forget it, I just couldn't seem to ignore it. It wasn't like Faye or the pain I got in my side. I just couldn't block it out. Every thought somehow seemed to drift back into the dream that wouldn't stay shoved back into my subconscious.  
  
I passed a café, a girl in the window turned to face me as the reflection of her face shimmered. For a split second I thought it was Julia. I had stopped and shook my head, trying to clear it, trying to push everything that was bombarding my mind out of my thoughts. I needed a better way to deal with this, deal with all this excess depression. I was losing my mind.  
  
Gotta' get a handle on this Spike buddy or you're gonna' end up in a nice room with padded walls.  
  
I shook my head again. That thought wasn't going to happen any time soon, I refused to be locked away with only my memories and dreams to let me suffer. It made me laugh how that voice in my head just came out whenever it felt like bugging the shit out of me. Where had it been when I needed it to knock some common sense into me, or help me figure the sit in my life out?  
  
Nowhere that was where.  
  
But there had always been the cigarettes and alcohol. I reached in to my pants pocket, hoping to find just one more cigarette. No, I didn't have enough luck just to have one little inhale of smoke to calm my shaking nerves. But, as I reached into my pocket I found a few woolongs. I pulled it out and counted it. Not much but enough to by a drink, or a pack.  
  
At the moment, a drink sounded good to me, and I knew the perfect place. The real question was: was it still around? It had only been nine years. I doubted that that many huge changes happened here. Saturn was slow but progressive. It moved with the times only when the people felt it needed to. Plus Tavern was the big hangout.  
  
  
  
I walked past Briston Street to see if the old tavern was there. Older homes stared at me from both sides of the street, the clouds looming above my head threatening rain. For the most part it was quite; a few cars, some lawnmowers, and kids, and that was it. Quite? Yes, peaceful? I couldn't get enough grip of the deep melancholy that lingered around in the shadows.  
  
I thought of the Tavern again. The old bar with the familiar faces of the people I hardly knew but felt comfortable enough with to think of them as part of a place I could call home. Before Vicious, before Julia, before desperation just to get away from the complicated life I had just wanted to forget. They were there- shadowed smiles tainted with alcohol- my foundation, perhaps?  
  
Man, that place had a lot of memories. It brought a half smile to my face. It would be good to sit with some of the old timers and here their stories again and anyways a drink would calm my nerves. Besides I had time to kill anyway, hours in fact.  
  
Jet was getting supplies for the ship and new parts for the Swordfish. He said it would take him awhile. Faye went "Gambling," and Ed well I guessed she was doing whatever she normally did. I figured that she was out wandering around somewhere with Ein at her heels.  
  
I walked past Asrin Street thinking about how everything had changed. It's funny how you don't remember anything about a place till you're actually there. The old buildings seeped with forgotten pasts. Memories, some mine, some from the ghosts that never left.   
  
I walked to the village plaza and stopped. The street was empty. A lone piece of crumpled paper blew down the dusty sidewalk. The buildings were shabby and falling into unbelievable disrepair.  
  
Had it really been that long ago that this place was filled with shops and people?  
  
I turned looking at both sides of the street as I walked; absolutely in horror and disbelief at everything I saw. Four streets down from all this was a life of tourists and trade. This place was nothing short of a ghost town.   
  
What the hell is going on here?  
  
At last I came to Bristin Street. The bar on the corner stood half fallen over. The shack out back was reduced to nothing but a pile of rotting wood. I couldn't believe it, and the smell was awful. It smelled like burnt flesh and rubber.  
  
No, damnit! I can't believe this!  
  
At that moment I thought of her again and that day we met in the same bar that once stood where only ashes remained now. I saw her face for only a moment.  
  
I turned away I just couldn't bear it anymore. Nine years, it was only nine years ago and it was all gone just like that. How cruel time could be. Everything lost in that pile of ash and god knows what else, it was like looking at my life symbolically. Eventually I would become ashes just like the old bar, and would anyone remember where I once stood? But maybe it didn't really matter because, as of now, I wasn't going to die no matter how much I wanted to.  
  
Everything of my past was ashes now.  
  
But wait.  
  
What about the factory? Should I go there to? No, hell no, seeing that place burnt to cinders like the bar would silence me for good. It would take too much of my spirit away to know I lived through time and they did not.  
  
I wanted to go back to the ship; there wasn't any point for me to stay any longer.  
  
I'm not going back there. I don't want to see what that place looks like. I'm leaving right now. I don't want to see that place in ruins too.  
  
I decide to walk back.  
  
Back where?   
  
The ship it was all I had now. I felt as if I had been slapped in the face yet again. I always came back. Somewhere deep inside of me I always knew that this small piece of my life wouldn't stay physically standing. That it would be gone. Like I knew Julia would never be mine. But I still wanted her. I always returned to the things I couldn't have and saw it all die. Like I was supposed to see it was destroyed.  
  
Well I turned my back on all the things that I had lost this time  
  
I walked away.  
  
The air around me was getting colder.   
  
I swore as a dark cloud loomed over my head. I looked up at it angrily. It was going to storm.   
  
Ha let it come. I hope it heard me. I wanted it to pour. I wanted to stand it and get drenched. I had no desire to fight anymore, whether I was fighting the rain or my own life, I didn't care. I was tired of fighting a loosing battle. And yet I refused to back from the challenge of trying. Hell I wasn't gonna be the one who ran away this time.  
  
Come on you bastard of a storm.  
  
Then it started to rain. I looked up at it. The sky had turned a nasty shade of black. For some reason I smiled. The irony of life; wasn't it great? You had to love it.  
  
I laughed out loud. Then something moved in the corner of the declining building beside me. I wiped my eyes to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. But it moved again. With the wind picking up it was so hard to see what it was.  
  
Damn. I can't see. Give me one good look, you bastard.  
  
And I got one good look as if an answer to my unspoken thought. Just one glimpse, but it was enough to tell my instincts that whatever it was had to be human.  
  
I couldn't tell you why but something urged me to chase it. If it was what I thought, then maybe that person could ask them what had happed to this area.   
  
"Hey." I cried. "Wait I want to speak to you!"  
  
The thing made a dash down the deserted street. One thought ran through my head, and that was to catch it.  
  
I ran down street after street. The wind and rain whipped at my face. By now I was soaked to the bone, but I hadn't noticed. After all it was only water. I wasn't gonna melt. I smiled a wry smile. That notion had brought some humor to this insane situation.  
  
The shadowy figure darted through a narrow tunnel of a collapsed shed. It took me too much time to get through it. It was a very tight squeeze. How the hell a person had gotten through this tunnel so fast was beyond me.  
  
Either that was an animal or this guy was a good contortionist.  
  
When I came through the tunnel I couldn't tell where I was. It was the same view for miles. All UI saw were black burnt buildings. Their shadows loomed in the distance. The area was more run down then the one before it. Nothing moved.   
  
The person I has chased was nowhere to be seem, and I had no idea where I was. Briston Street was far away now. I thought about retracing my steps but I had no idea where I had come from.  
  
Shit! Damn you, Spike. You had to follow that thing. What if it was a ghost? You're going crazy buddy. You're seeing things that aren't there. How the hell do you plan to get out of this one?  
  
I laughed and turned around. But I stopped at what I saw. A tall black brunt building loomed before me. It smelled of charred coal and rubber even through the rain.   
  
What was this place?   
  
The wind picked up and a small metal sign flew into my leg.   
  
Baker Brothers Parts  
  
I almost fell to the ground. I had worked here. What the hell had happened? The first thing I was going to do when I got into town was to ask why every damn building in the district was burned to charred bits. I knew where I was now. The whole time I had chased that thing, I had thought I was getting further away from Briston Street. But all I had done was to make one huge circle.  
  
And here I was.  
  
I stopped raining. I turned down the side street to go back. This place was creeping me out. It was to depressing to think about all that I had known to be nothing more then ashes.   
  
Oh well what else was new, right?  
  
I put my hands in my pockets and started back for town, and left the images of a yet another broken past behind me.  
  
I walked across the street to Grey Alley. It was the quickest way back into town.   
  
All the buildings here were burnt too. Someone must have gone fire happy. I could see why I thought I was someplace else. Everything looked the same, burnt and deteriorated.  
  
I went down the alleyway and stopped at what I saw.  
  
What the hell?   
  
A trail of bloody footprints lay upon the ground. Deep holes along with bits of torn bloody cloth were on either side of them. I guessed whoever had left these behind must have fallen once or twice. The puddles on the ground glowed red and the smell of the blood reached up into my nose and made me turn away.  
  
I knelt down and felt the blood with my fingers. It was still warm. Warm enough to just have come from a body.  
  
I looked for bullet shots in the burnt walls of the buildings but didn't see any. The footprints ran all along the alley in a stumbled fashion.   
  
I stood up.  
  
Should I follow them? Is the person alive?  
  
What could I do now? The person was probably dead. That was hell of a lot of blood to be lost. What was I going to do? I was sure that no one was around to help that person.  
  
I put my hand to my face.  
  
I wanted to turn around the flee all of this, this nightmare of death that surrounded me wherever I went. I had, had enough of it.   
  
But if I I'd go back to the ship and think of some person lying half dead in the gutter. I closed my eyes and then the thought of Lin lying there after he blocked the shot, came into my head. I opened my eyes.  
  
No, I won't be the one to walk away.  
  
  
  
I ran up the alleyway, the puddles of blood grew larger with each step I took. The person had obviously tried to flee, that caused more blood loss.  
  
I ran faster, thoughts of that fateful rainy day ringing in my ears.  
  
Vicious.. No I didn't save Julia but.  
  
No not this time. I didn't save her but I will get to this person.  
  
I came to the end and looked around me. The small path on the right was no longer passable. The charred bricks had fallen into an enormous heap. On the other side I saw it. Lying in the corner under some bricks was the thing I had chased dome way back. It lay in bundle of soaked rags propped up against the corner. The blood pooled at its feet. It was so tiny.  
  
I pulled one of the rags back to reveal a face, stained with blood and cuts that zigzagged around the forehead. The head fell to the side. I pulled the hood off completely. It was a kid, a little kid. I had been chasing a little kid this whole time?   
  
I put the hood down, I was sure the kid was dead. There was a lot of blood lost, too much for a person to survive. I felt so bad. I hated to see that. Poor kid.  
  
I turned to leave when, the eyes flared open. Dangerous pain filled eyes stared back at me with a blurred vision. The kid held out a shaky arm and fell forward. The mouth moved but the words were so faint. Quickly I dove and caught the kid. I felt for a pulse and found a weak one. Then I heard the words again, soft but distinct.   
  
Help me father.  
  
I froze. The kid was delusional. I scratched my head and bit my lip. What was I supposed to do? I just couldn't leave the kid but I absolutely hated kids. Part of me said he was already beyond my help. But those eyes, if I didn't at least try they would haunt me forever. I acted without a thought in my head as to what I was going to do but I grabbed the kid anyway and ran back up the alley. The blood dripped on my coat and left puddles. I stopped and checked for a pulse again. It was getting weaker. I took off my jacket and ripped it into strips. I tied all the places where the blood was most and started to run again.  
  
Where could I take the kid? Once I got out of the endless alley I ran down the street. I got to the old factory and looked both ways.  
  
No one.  
  
What was I gonna do?  
  
The ship was all I could think of. But then something unexpected happened.  
  
BAM!  
  
A bullet landed in a puddle at my feet. I turned and saw a guy dressed in black crouched behind the shed.  
  
"Give me the kid and you can go. Actually I should thank you. We've been looking for him for months." The guy stood up and looked at me.  
  
I smiled mockingly, old sarcasm breaking through my worry for the kid on my back. "Whose we?"  
  
He laughed. "None of your business. You do know that if you don't give me the kid I'll kill you too. You aren't worth shit to me."  
  
I laughed. "Oh really, yeah well I expected as much. What do you want with him anyway? He's dead already." I shrugged and smiled at the guy with daring eyes. He could try to kill me but he never would.  
  
The guy shook his head. "Yeah well if he's dead what are you doing carrying him around huh?"  
  
I thought for a moment and laughed. I had a good line for this loser. I shifted the kid in my arms. "Actually I'm a cannibal. I haven't eaten in awhile and he looked tasty. I was just gonna you know roast him and make stew. You're welcome to have some." I smiled.  
  
The guy was an idiot thinking I was actually a cannibal! He listened to every word as I went on about what I use as seasonings I used for 'fresh little kids. I had grabbed my gun while running my mouth and gripped the cold metal. Before he could speak I had shot both his legs out. Then I took off running. I ran around the old buildings, looking over my shoulder the whole time. I could have sworn I was being followed.  
  
Before I knew I was back in living part of the town. I hid behind a building. There was no chance now that the kid could go to a hospital now. Those creeps would be everywhere. All I had left was the ship. I just had to get back there quickly and quietly. If someone saw me there would be trouble with the law and all that shit. I threw a large dirty sheet from the ground over top of me and smeared my face with dirt. No one would come up to a poor smelly person now.  
  
I had no trouble getting around people at all. They all made room and avoided me as much as possible.  
  
When I got back to the ship no one was there. I was relived and somewhat annoyed at the same time. I didn't want Faye asking stupid questions. But Jet was more of a doctor then I was.  
  
Shut up, Spike and do something. The kid's dying and you're thinking about how other people would save him. Save him your goddamn self. Stop acting as if you're a fucking cripple.  
  
I got the kid into the bathroom and took off the bloody rags. The kid was a mess. Blood was everywhere. I scrubbed the cuts clean. There were so many. But luckily there were no bullets to pull out or anything of that nature.   
  
I noticed a chain on the kid's neck. At the bottom was a large flat square with a heart on it. I took it off and set it one the counter. I was tempted to look inside but I had more pressing matters to attend to and it really wasn't any of my damn business anyway.  
  
After about what seemed like hours. I had the kid cleaned, treated, in clothes and lying on the couch breathing softly and contently. I was so damn tired then. I sat next to the kid. His pulse was back to normal now but all that blood loss worried me. I didn't mean to but I fell asleep next to the kid. All rational thought of disease, bombs or anything was out of my mind. I had just done the stupidest thing ever. I had taken some half dead kid off the street and taken him and whatever else with him home. Or the fact some guys were gonna be after me. It all was just too much. Once I hit the couch I was out. 


End file.
